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155-487: Speak Now is the third studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift , released on October 25, 2010, by Big Machine Records . Swift wrote the album entirely herself while touring in 2009–2010 to reflect on her transition from adolescence to adulthood. Swift framed Speak Now as a loose concept album about the unsaid things she wanted to deliver to the subjects of her songs. Using confessional songwriting,
310-599: A Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania that her father had purchased from one of his clients, and she spent her summers at her family's vacation home in Stone Harbor, New Jersey , where she occasionally performed acoustic songs at a local coffee shop. She is a Christian and attended preschool and kindergarten at a Montessori school run by the Bernardine Sisters of St. Francis before transferring to
465-637: A normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, gave the album an average score of 77 that was based on 20 reviews. Most critics approved of Swift's grown-up perspective on love and relationships. Reviews published in AllMusic , Entertainment Weekly , The Guardian , the Los Angeles Times , and Rolling Stone complimented the songs for portraying emotions with engaging narratives and vivid details. In AllMusic's review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "[Swift] writes from
620-701: A stalker in Gelsenkirchen , Germany, and three children were killed in a stabbing attack at a Swift-themed workshop in Southport , England, leading to civil unrest in the UK . In August, all three of the Eras Tour concerts in Vienna were canceled following the arrest of two suspects for allegedly planning an Islamic State -inspired terrorist attack in the city . The plan was uncovered by US Intelligence and
775-399: A "bait-and-switch maneuver, planting roots in loamy country soil, then pivoting to pop". Clash wrote that she has the versatility to "no longer [...] be defined by any genre or sound label". According to Ann Powers , Swift's sound is genre-agnostic, blending and "reconfiguring" elements of country, R&B, indie pop , and hip hop. Swift possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range and
930-493: A "vintage" and "retro" vibe that, according to Niebank, brought a sense of authenticity. Hank Williams mastered the recordings. Because much of Speak Now was recorded and mixed in Nashville, Niebank believed the album stood out among popular records that were manipulated with contemporaneous technologies Auto-Tune and Melodyne . Although Chapman was responsible for much of the production, he said Swift's co-production credit
1085-400: A 2019 Rolling Stone cover story, Swift said she wrote the album by herself as a reaction to her critics' doubts about her songwriting ability. For some critics and academics, the self-written Speak Now is an album that solidified Swift's songwriting and artistry with its nuanced observations and confessional songs about young adulthood and confrontation against her critics. Many considered it
1240-512: A 30-position chart on October 20, 1984, and was expanded to 40 positions on May 31, 1986. Rankings were based on playlists received by a panel of Top 40 radio stations. On December 8, 1990, Billboard introduced the 75-position Top 40 Radio Monitor chart positions, which ranked songs measured by the number of spins each song on monitored radio stations and the ratings for those stations when the songs were being played based on Nielsen BDS technology. The BDS-measured Top 40 Radio Monitor chart became
1395-423: A Monday to Sunday weekly cycle from July 2015 to July 2021. As of the chart dated July 17, 2021, the radio airplay data is collected on a Friday through Thursday weekly cycle, which matches that of the other Hot 100 metrics (streaming and sales). No. 2 No. 4 No. 6 No. 8 No. 9 Listed here are airplay peaks by song . Even if a song has registered enough impressions to be listed during multiple weeks, it
1550-553: A Movie". The album spent six non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200. Speak Now was the third-best-selling album of 2010 in the United States with sales of 2.96 million copies. By January 2024, it had sold 4.817 million copies in the United States. The RIAA certified the album six-times platinum , which denotes six million album-equivalent units based on sales, song downloads, and streaming . Speak Now
1705-421: A catchy album with radio-friendly pop tunes; the former was impressed by the crossover appeal but deemed the overall production dull. The Village Voice took issue with Swift's vocals as weak and strained. BBC Music found the album's track list too long but called it overall a "sparky and affecting record". Now approved of Swift's experimentation with styles other than country but considered it "too safe" and said
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#17328007806351860-580: A co-writer around so I would just finish it. That would happen again in New York and then again in Boston and that would happen again in Nashville." Inspired by her growth into adulthood, she conceived Speak Now as a loose concept album about the things she wanted to tell certain people she had met but never had a chance to. As with her songwriting on previous albums, Swift strove to convey emotional honesty with details as specifically as possible, believing it
2015-511: A computer repairman and local musician who also assisted Swift with writing an original song. In 2003, Swift and her parents started working with the talent manager Dan Dymtrow. With his help, Swift modeled for Abercrombie & Fitch and had an original song included on a Maybelline compilation CD. After performing original songs at an RCA Records showcase, 13-year-old Swift was given an artist development deal and began to travel regularly to Nashville with her mother. To help Swift break into
2170-890: A corresponding melody. On her first three studio albums, love, heartbreak, and insecurities, from an adolescent perspective, were dominant themes. She delved into the tumult of toxic relationships on Red , and embraced nostalgia and post-romance positivity on 1989 . Reputation was inspired by the downsides of Swift's fame, and Lover detailed her realization of the "full spectrum of love". Other themes in Swift's music include family dynamics, friendship, alienation, self-awareness , and tackling vitriol, especially sexism . She often references or draws inspiration from historical events and figures. Swift's confessional lyrics received positive reviews from critics, who highlighted their vivid details and emotional engagement, which they found uncommon in pop music, although some perceived her as
2325-485: A deep-purple gown. On September 15, she announced a Target -exclusive deluxe edition whose cover art is identical to that of the standard edition but the gown is red instead of purple. Starting from October 4, 2010, Big Machine released one Speak Now track each week on the iTunes Store as part of a three-week countdown campaign; the title track was released on October 5, followed by "Back to December" on October 12 and "Mean" on October 19. On October 22, Xfinity premiered
2480-519: A defining sound of her recalibrated pop artistry and image, inspired by the music of Phil Collins , Annie Lennox , Peter Gabriel , and Madonna . 1989 , the first album in this direction, incorporates electronic arrangements consisting of dense synthesizers and drum machines . Swift expanded on the electronic production on her next albums; Reputation consists of hip hop, R&B, and EDM influences; and Lover features eclectic elements from country, pop-punk, and folk rock . When Swift embraced
2635-455: A different title, deeming Enchanted unfit for the album's mature perspective. She settled on the title Speak Now because she thought it best captures the album's essence: "I think it's such a metaphor, that moment where it's almost too late, and you've got to either say what it is you are feeling or deal with the consequences forever ... And this album seemed like the opportunity for me to speak now or forever hold my peace." Swift finalized
2790-468: A documentary about Faith Hill , she became determined to pursue a country-music career in Nashville, Tennessee . At 11, Swift traveled to Nashville with her mother to visit record labels and submit demo tapes of Dolly Parton and Dixie Chicks karaoke covers. She was rejected by all the labels, which led her to focus on songwriting. She started learning the guitar at 12 with the help of Ronnie Cremer,
2945-469: A fragile, juvenile artist, a label she has consistently challenged. Critics also praised her melodic compositions; Rolling Stone described Swift as "a songwriting savant with an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture ". NPR dubbed Swift "a master of the vernacular in her lyrics", remarking that her songs offer emotional engagement because "the wit and clarity of her arrangements turn them from standard fare to heartfelt disclosures". Despite
3100-401: A generally soft and breathy timbre that Rolling Stone deemed versatile. Reviews of Swift's early country albums criticized her vocals as weak and strained compared to those of other female country singers. Despite the criticism, most reviewers appreciated that Swift refrained from correcting her pitch with Auto-Tune and how she prioritized "intimacy over power and nuance" to communicate
3255-495: A genre-spanning record that incorporated eclectic styles of pop and rock such as Britrock , dubstep , and dance-pop . The album opened at number one on the Billboard 200 with 1.21 million sales and was Swift's first number-one album in the UK. Its lead single, " We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together ", was her first number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and its third single, " I Knew You Were Trouble ", reached
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#17328007806353410-590: A global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group after her 16-year contract with Sony/ATV expired. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Swift surprise-released two "sister albums" that she recorded and produced with Antonoff and Aaron Dessner : Folklore in July and Evermore in December. Joe Alwyn co-wrote and co-produced a few songs under the pseudonym William Bowery. Both albums incorporated
3565-473: A lost love, or a former friend being forgiven". Swift wrote as many as 25 songs and by early 2010, she had begun to select songs for the album. To ensure the album would be coherent, she played the songs to her family, friends, and the producer Nathan Chapman , who had produced for Swift since the recording of her self-titled debut album in 2006. Swift chose Enchanted as a working title but Big Machine Records' founder Scott Borchetta recommended Swift choose
3720-448: A muted indie folk and alternative rock production; each was supported by three singles catering to US pop, country, and triple A radio formats. The singles were " Cardigan ", " Betty ", and " Exile " from Folklore , and " Willow ", " No Body, No Crime ", and " Coney Island " from Evermore . Folklore was the bestselling album of 2020 in the US and, together with "Cardigan", made Swift
3875-643: A near- rap delivery which emphasizes rhythm and cadence over melody. She uses her lower register vocals extensively in "Cardigan" and both her lower and upper registers in Evermore ; the musicologist Alyssa Barca described her timbre in the upper register as "breathy and bright" and the lower register as "full and dark". Reviews in The New York Times , Variety and The Atlantic were more appreciative of Swift's vocals in her later albums. She ranked 102nd on Rolling Stone 's 2023 list of
4030-407: A need to speak to him inspired " The Story of Us ". On " Better than Revenge ", Swift affirms vengeance against a romantic rival who is known for "the things she does on the mattress". Romantic optimism is another theme of the album. The opening track " Mine " is about Swift's hope of attaining happiness despite her tendency to "run from love" to avoid heartbreak. It was the first song she included on
4185-528: A non-recoupable portion of the proceeds among its artists. Swift's first album with Republic Records, Lover , was released in August 2019. She produced the album with Antonoff, Louis Bell , Frank Dukes , and Joel Little . Lover peaked atop the charts of such territories as Australia, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, the UK, and the US. The album spawned five singles: " Me! ", " You Need to Calm Down ", " Lover ", " The Man ", and " Cruel Summer ";
4340-569: A pop identity, rockist critics regarded her move as an erosion of her country music songwriting authenticity, but others regarded it as necessary for Swift's artistic evolution and defended her as a pioneer of poptimism . Her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore explore alternative and indie styles of rock and folk , and both incorporate a subtle, stripped-back soundscape with orchestration , synthesizers, and drum pads. The latter experiments with varied song structures, asymmetric time signatures , and diverse instruments. Critics deemed
4495-439: A preview of "The Story of Us". Big Machine released the standard and deluxe editions of Speak Now on October 25, 2010. The Target-exclusive CD+DVD edition contains 14 songs of the standard; the bonus tracks " Ours ", "If This Was a Movie", and "Superman"; acoustic versions of "Back to December" and "Haunted"; a "pop mix" of "Mine"; a 30-minute behind-the-scenes video for "Mine"; and the music video for "Mine". The deluxe edition
4650-468: A rebellious teenager in an CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode and hosted and performed as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live ; she was the first host ever to write their own opening monologue. Swift's third studio album, Speak Now , was released in October 2010. Written solely by Swift, the album debuted the Billboard 200 with over one million US copies sold first week and became
4805-528: A semi-private concert for JetBlue at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. After "Mine", Swift released five more singles from Speak Now . "Back to December" and "Mean", which were earlier available for digital download, were released to US country radio on November 15, 2010, and March 13, 2011. The two singles peaked at numbers seven and ten in Canada, and "Back to December" reached number six on
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4960-480: A slight vocal twang , in addition to pop melodies and rock influences; Speak Now draws on rock styles such as pop rock , pop-punk , and 1980s arena rock . Critics argued that country was an indicator of Swift's narrative songwriting rather than musical direction and accused her of causing mainstream country music to stray from its roots. After the critical debate around Red 's eclectic pop, rock, and electronic styles, Swift chose 1980s synth-pop as
5115-439: A strong groundwork to Swift's consistently-evolved songcraft on subsequent albums. For communications professor Myles McNutt, the album established Swift's credentials to claim authorship to her music and career, contrary to other artists being commodified by their labels. Its commercial success contributed to her fame as a pop star transcending her self-identity as a country-music artist. Pitchfork 's Sam Sodomsky, reviewing
5270-417: Is "not a vanity credit. We were really a team, very collaborative." Speak Now follows the country pop production of Fearless and incorporates prominent elements of mainstream pop music , more so than Fearless . Critics debated the album's genre. Paste described the album as a blend of country and radio-friendly pop tunes with climatic build-ups and catchy hooks . Entertainment Weekly classified
5425-401: Is a contemplation of her childhood, adulthood, and future. The self-aware " Mean ", in which Swift sings about facing a man who had tried to take her down, was inspired by her detractors. Because of her confessional songwriting, the media became invested in Swift's personal life and believed each song is about a real person: an ex-lover, a friend, or an enemy. Although Swift was interested to hear
5580-421: Is a gentle, orchestral, string-laden ballad. Speak Now 's longest track, "Dear John" at six minutes and 43 seconds, is a slow-burning, bluesy , country-pop song with electric guitar licks . The guitar ballad "Never Grow Up" incorporates an understated production that accompanies its wistful lyrics. On "Enchanted", the acoustic guitar crescendos after each refrain and leads up to a harmony-layered coda at
5735-650: Is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her biographical songwriting, artistic reinventions, and cultural impact , Swift is a leading figure in popular music and the subject of widespread public interest . Swift signed to Big Machine Records in 2005 starting as a country singer with the albums Taylor Swift (2006) and Fearless (2008). Her singles " Teardrops on My Guitar ", " Love Story ", and " You Belong with Me " found crossover success on country and pop radio formats. She experimented with rock on Speak Now (2010) and electronic on Red (2012), later re-calibrating her image from country to pop with
5890-514: Is an acoustic guitar-driven country pop song with a 1950s rock chorus . "The Story of Us" and "Better than Revenge" are electric-guitar-driven pop-punk songs; the former contains influences of dance-pop and new wave . The arena-rock and goth-rock -inspired "Haunted" incorporates a dramatic recurring string section. The closing track "Long Live" is a heartland rock song featuring girl-group harmonies and chiming rock guitars. The remaining tracks of Speak Now are ballads . "Back to December"
6045-494: Is being at her most likeable when she's indulging in such overt nastiness." Entertainment Weekly agreed, deeming those tracks inevitable for Swift's artistic evolution. The Village Voice said Swift's songwriting was "not confessional, but dramatic" and found it more nuanced and mature compared to that of Fearless . Other reviews focused on Speak Now 's production. Reviews published in Paste and Slant Magazine called it
6200-1136: Is identical to that for Fearless ; he programmed the drums with Toontrack's software Superior Drummer , played drums on the Roland Fantom G6 keyboard, added electric guitars to the arrangements, recorded Swift's vocals with an Avantone CV12 microphone and his background vocals with a Shure SM57 , produced the bass with an Avalon VT737 preamplifier , and used Endless Audio's CLASP System to synchronize his editing on Pro Tools and Logic . Because of Swift's country-music vision, Chapman asked other musicians, mostly in Nashville, to replace his programmed drums with live drumming and add acoustic instruments such as fiddle . For instance, Chapman asked Steve Marcantonio to cut down programmed drums on "Mine" at Blackbird Studios in Nashville. For some tracks, including "Back to December", Swift and her team went to Capitol Studios in Los Angeles to record string orchestration. After recording finished, Justin Niebank mixed
6355-509: Is important for a songwriter to do so. She described her songs as "diary entries" about her emotions that helped her navigate adulthood. Swift chose not to follow the trend of making increasingly sexualized music by artists of her age and believed such a path would be incongruent with her artistic vision. Departing from Fearless 's theme of fairy tales and starry-eyed romance, Speak Now explores introspection and reflections on broken relationships. By avoiding sexual references in its songs,
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6510-666: Is only listed once. Sources: 4 weeks 5 weeks Source: On November 30, 1991, after 21 years of using the Billboard Hot 100 as their source, American Top 40 started using this chart, which at the time was called the Top 40 Radio Monitor . This relationship ended in January 1993, as American Top 40 switched to the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart. The ongoing splintering of Top 40 radio in
6665-414: Is released weekly by Billboard magazine and measures the airplay of songs being played on radio stations throughout the United States across all musical genres. It is one of the three components, along with sales (both physical and the digital ) and streaming activity, that determine the chart positions of songs on the Billboard Hot 100 . Radio airplay has always been one of the component charts of
6820-612: The 2009 Country Music Association Awards , Swift won Album of the Year for Fearless and was named Entertainer of the Year, the youngest person to win the honor. Throughout 2009, Swift featured on and wrote other musicians' releases. She featured on " Half of My Heart " by John Mayer , whom she was romantically linked with in late 2009. She wrote " Best Days of Your Life " for Kellie Pickler , co-wrote and featured on Boys Like Girls ' " Two Is Better Than One , and wrote two songs—" You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home " and " Crazier "—for
6975-641: The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards . Her other performances at awards shows include the Country Music Association Awards and the American Music Awards in 2010; the Academy of Country Music Awards and the Country Music Association Awards in 2011. She also performed at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame . In Europe, Swift performed on BBC Radio 2 and X Factor Italy , and she had interviews with BBC Radio 1 in
7130-552: The 2011 American Music Awards and Top Selling Album of 2011 by the Canadian Country Music Association ; and was nominated for International Album of the Year at the 2011 Juno Awards and for International Album of the Year at the 2012 Canadian Independent Music Awards . At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012, Speak Now was nominated for Best Country Album , and its single "Mean" won Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song . In
7285-539: The 2014 American Music Awards , Swift received the inaugural Dick Clark Award for Excellence. On her 25th birthday in 2014, the Grammy Museum at L.A. Live opened an exhibit in her honor in Los Angeles that ran until October 4, 2015. In 2015, Swift won the Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist . "Bad Blood" won Video of the Year and Best Collaboration at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards . At
7440-467: The 2020 Sundance Film Festival . Swift's re-recordings of her first six studio albums began with Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) , which were released in April and November 2021. Both peaked atop the Billboard 200, and the former was the first re-recorded album to do so. Fearless (Taylor's Version) was preceded by " Love Story (Taylor's Version) ", which made Swift
7595-585: The 50th Annual Grammy Awards . In 2008, she opened for Rascal Flatts again and briefly dated the singer Joe Jonas . Swift's second studio album, Fearless , was released in November 2008 in North America, and in March 2009 in other markets. On the Billboard 200, Fearless spent 11 weeks at number one, becoming Swift's first chart topper and the longest-running number-one female country album. It
7750-555: The 58th Grammy Awards (2016), 1989 won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album , making Swift the first woman to win Album of the Year twice. Swift dated the DJ Calvin Harris from March 2015 to June 2016. They co-wrote the song " This Is What You Came For ", featuring vocals from Rihanna ; Swift was initially credited under the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg. She recorded " I Don't Wanna Live Forever " with Zayn Malik for
7905-520: The Billboard Hot 100, making Swift the first female artist to have 11 songs on the Hot 100 at the same time. After the digital release of the deluxe edition tracks in November 2011, "If This Was a Movie" charted at number 10 on the Hot 100, making Swift the first artist to have eight songs debut in the top 10. With this achievement, Speak Now had four songs peaking in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100—"Mine", "Back to December", "Speak Now", and "If This Was
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#17328007806358060-698: The Billboard Hot 100. According to Billboard , Swift was the top-earning solo artist in the US and the top-earning musician worldwide of 2021. She won six American Music Awards including Artist of the Year in 2022 . At the MTV Video Music Awards, Swift won her third and fourth trophies for Video of the Year with All Too Well: The Short Film , her self-directed short film that accompanies "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)", in 2022 and "Anti-Hero" in 2023 . During this period, Swift won three Grammy Awards: Best Music Video for All Too Well: The Short Film and Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of
8215-431: The Billboard Hot 100. "The Story of Us" was released to US pop radio on April 19, 2011. "Sparks Fly" and "Ours" were released to US country radio on July 18 and December 5, 2011. Prior to its single release, "Ours", together with the other deluxe edition tracks, was released for digital download via the iTunes Store on November 8, 2011. "Sparks Fly" and "Ours" reached the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked atop
8370-609: The Grammy Award for Album of the Year , MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year and the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year at least four times each. She is an advocate of artists' rights and women's empowerment. Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, in West Reading, Pennsylvania . She is named after the singer-songwriter James Taylor . Her father, Scott Kingsley Swift,
8525-794: The Hot Country Songs chart. The RIAA certified all six of the album's singles at least platinum; "Back to December" and "Mean" sold over two million copies each, and they were certified double-platinum and triple-platinum. On November 23, 2010, Swift announced the Speak Now World Tour , which started in Singapore on February 9, 2011. The tour visited Asia and Europe before the North American leg started in Omaha, Nebraska , on May 27, 2011. Within two days of announcement,
8680-552: The Mainstream Top 40 chart and "You Belong with Me" was the first country song to top the all-genre Radio Songs chart. At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards in February 2010, Fearless won Album of the Year and Best Country Album , and its single " White Horse " won Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song . The success of Fearless made Swift one of country music's biggest stars to crossover into
8835-503: The Speak Now World Tour from February 2011 to March 2012 and the live album Speak Now World Tour – Live . At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012, Swift performed "Mean", which won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance . She was named Songwriter/Artist of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association (2010 and 2011), Woman of the Year by Billboard (2011), and Entertainer of
8990-679: The Wyndcroft School . When her family moved to Wyomissing , she attended Wyomissing Area Junior/Senior High School . As a child, she performed in Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions and traveled regularly to New York City for vocal and acting lessons. Her early love for country music was influenced by Shania Twain , Patsy Cline , LeAnn Rimes , and the Dixie Chicks , and she spent weekends performing at local festivals and events. After watching
9145-496: The soundtrack of Hannah Montana: The Movie , in which she had a cameo appearance. She wrote and recorded " Today Was a Fairytale " for the soundtrack of Valentine's Day (2010), in which she had her acting debut. "Today Was a Fairytale" was her first number-one single on the Canadian Hot 100 . While shooting Valentine's Day in October 2009, Swift dated co-star Taylor Lautner . On television, she made her debut as
9300-660: The soundtrack of Where the Crawdads Sing (2022), she wrote and recorded " Carolina ", which received nominations for Best Original Song at the Golden Globes and Best Song Written for Visual Media at the Grammy Awards. In 2023, Swift was the most streamed artist on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music; and the first act to place number one on the year-end Billboard top artists list in three different decades (2009, 2015 and 2023). She had five out of
9455-414: The synth-pop album 1989 (2014); the ensuing media scrutiny inspired the hip-hop -imbued Reputation (2017). The albums contained the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles " We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together ", " Shake It Off ", " Blank Space ", " Bad Blood " and " Look What You Made Me Do ". Shifting to Republic Records in 2018, Swift released the electropop album Lover (2019) and
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#17328007806359610-437: The title track after hearing a friend's ex-boyfriend was marrying another woman; in the lyrics, the protagonist crashes the ex-boyfriend's wedding and tries to halt it. " Dear John " narrates a devastating relationship of a 19-year-old female narrator who accuses a much-older man of manipulating her with "dark, twisted games". Swift's encounter with an ex-lover at an awards show, where they ignored each other despite Swift feeling
9765-501: The world's richest female musician . She has been listed amongst history's greatest artists by publications such as Rolling Stone , Billboard and Forbes , as well as the only individual from the arts to have been named the Time Person of the Year (2023). Her accolades include 14 Grammy Awards , a Primetime Emmy Award , 40 American Music Awards , 40 Billboard Music Awards , and 30 MTV Video Music Awards , having won
9920-528: The "50 Best Female Albums of All Time"; the magazine commented: "She might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days, with a flawless ear for what makes a song click." In 2019, Billboard listed Speak Now in 51st place on its list of the best albums of the 2010s and second on its list of best country albums of the same decade. The album also ranked 37th on Spin 's 2010s decade-end list and 71st on that of Cleveland.com ; and Taste of Country named it
10075-454: The 10 best-selling albums of 2023 in the US, a record since Luminate began tracking US music sales in 1991. Besides music, Swift had a supporting role in the period comedy film Amsterdam (2022) and began writing an original script for her directorial feature film debut with Searchlight Pictures . In March 2023, Swift embarked on the Eras Tour , a retrospective tour covering all her studio albums. Media outlets extensively covered
10230-465: The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time: "A decade ago, including her on this list would have been a controversial move, but recent releases like Folklore , Evermore , and Midnights officially settled the argument." Laura Snapes of The Guardian said that Swift's "vocal directness" enables her to express wide-ranging feelings, highlighting some trademarks such as "yo-yoing vocal yelp" and "climactic, processed cri de coeur ". Amanda Petrusich praised how
10385-640: The American Music Awards, Swift won three awards including Artist of the Year for a third record time ( 2020 ) and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock Album ( 2021 ). Swift played Bombalurina in the film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber 's musical Cats (2019), for which she co-wrote and recorded the Golden Globe-nominated original song " Beautiful Ghosts ". The documentary Miss Americana , which chronicled parts of Swift's life and career, premiered at
10540-822: The CD single to country radio stations. She spent much of 2006 promoting Taylor Swift with a radio tour and television appearances; she opened for Rascal Flatts on select dates during their 2006 tour, as a replacement for Eric Church . Borchetta said that although record industry peers initially disapproved of his signing a 15-year-old singer-songwriter, Swift tapped into a previously unknown market—teenage girls who listen to country music. Following " Tim McGraw ", four more singles were released throughout 2007 and 2008: " Teardrops on My Guitar ", " Our Song ", " Picture to Burn ", and " Should've Said No ". All appeared on Billboard ' s Hot Country Songs , with "Our Song" and "Should've Said No" reaching number one. "Our Song" made Swift
10695-444: The Eras Tour (2023–2024), and its accompanying concert film are respectively the highest-grossing tour and concert film of all time. Her fans are known as Swifties . Swift is one of the world's best-selling music artists , with over 200 million units sold and a record seven albums that moved one million copies first-week . She is the highest-grossing female touring act , the first billionaire with music as primary income, and
10850-405: The Hot 100. Prior to the establishment of the Hot 100, Billboard published a radio airplay chart, a singles sales chart and a jukebox play chart, the last of which was discontinued in 1959 as jukeboxes lost their popularity. During the 1960s and 1970s, Billboard continued to collect airplay data as a component of the Hot 100 but did not make the chart public. The airplay-only chart debuted as
11005-617: The MTV Awards incident transformed Swift into a "bona-fide mainstream celebrity", and The New York Times said it was refreshing to see a talented singer-songwriter like Swift "make the occasional flub". Swift began writing for her third studio album immediately after she released Fearless and continued during her Fearless Tour in 2009 and 2010. Because of her extensive touring schedule, Swift wrote her third album alone: "I'd get my best ideas at 3:00 a.m. in Arkansas, and I didn't have
11160-908: The Philippines. In Europe, it charted at number four in Norway, number six in Japan, number eight in Mexico, and number ten in Spain. After Swift embarked on the Eras Tour (2023–2024), Speak Now resurged in popularity in the United Kingdom: it re-entered the top 40 (at number 23) of the UK Albums Chart for the week ending May 18, 2023, which was its first top-40 appearance since November 2010. Speak Now received generally positive reviews from contemporaneous critics. Metacritic , which assigns
11315-558: The US Billboard 200 , on which it spent 157 weeks—the longest stay on the chart by any release in the US in the 2000s decade. Swift became the first female country music artist to write or co-write every track on a platinum-certified debut album. Big Machine Records was still in its infancy during the June 2006 release of the lead single , " Tim McGraw ", which Swift and her mother helped promote by packaging and sending copies of
11470-495: The US, Midnights was her fifth to open atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of over one million copies, and its tracks, led by the single " Anti-Hero ", made Swift the first artist to monopolize the top 10 of the Hot 100. Globally, the album broke the record for the most single-day streams and most single-week streams on Spotify and peaked atop the charts of at least 14 countries. The album's two further singles, " Lavender Haze " and " Karma ", both peaked at number two on
11625-559: The US. Its singles " ...Ready for It? ", " End Game ", and " Delicate " were released to pop radio. Reputation was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. Swift featured on the country duo Sugarland 's " Babe " (2018). At the 2018 American Music Awards , Swift won four awards, which made her accumulate 23 trophies in total and become the AMAs' most awarded female musician, surpassing Whitney Houston . The same year, she embarked on her Reputation Stadium Tour , which became
11780-582: The United Kingdom and NRJ in France. She embarked on a promotional tour in Japan, where she appeared on the television shows SMAPxSMAP and Music Station . Her round of American television shows included Today , Late Show with David Letterman , The Ellen DeGeneres Show , Live with Regis and Kelly , and Dancing with the Stars . She also gave private concerts to contest winners and played
11935-577: The United States, it sold one million copies within its first release week, spent six weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 , and was certified six-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America . Music critics generally praised Speak Now for its radio-friendly melodies and emotional engagement. Some critics thought the lyrics represented Swift's maturity in early adulthood, but several others criticized
12090-465: The Warren Brothers and formed a lasting working relationship with Liz Rose . They began meeting for two-hour writing sessions every Tuesday afternoon after school. Rose called the sessions "some of the easiest I've ever done. Basically, I was just her editor. She'd write about what happened in school that day. She had such a clear vision of what she was trying to say. And she'd come in with
12245-475: The Year and Favorite Country Album. Billboard named her the 2009 Artist of the Year . She won Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year for "Love Story" at the 2009 CMT Music Awards , where she made a parody video of the song with rapper T-Pain called "Thug Story". At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards , Fearless was named Album of the Year and Best Country Album , and "White Horse" won Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance . At
12400-612: The Year by the Academy of Country Music (2011 and 2012) and the Country Music Association in 2011. At the American Music Awards of 2011 , Swift won Artist of the Year and Favorite Country Album. Rolling Stone named Speak Now on its list of "50 Best Female Albums of All Time" (2012). Red , Swift's fourth studio album, was released in October 2012. On Red , Swift worked with Chapman and new producers including Max Martin , Shellback , Dan Wilson , Jeff Bhasker , Dann Huff , and Butch Walker , resulting in
12555-460: The Year for Midnights . Swift became the first artist to win Album of the Year four times in Grammy history. Swift's next two re-recorded albums, Speak Now (Taylor's Version) and 1989 (Taylor's Version) , were released in July and October 2023. The former made Swift the woman with the most number-one albums (12) in Billboard 200 history, surpassing Barbra Streisand , and the latter
12710-401: The Year for "You Need to Calm Down", becoming the first female and second artist overall to win the category for a self-directed video. While promoting Lover in 2019, Swift became embroiled in a public dispute with the talent manager Scooter Braun after he purchased Big Machine Records, including the masters of her albums that the label had released. Swift said she had been trying to buy
12865-594: The album as pop and commented the only country elements are its "smattering of banjo pluck and dainty twang". According to BBC Music , Speak Now veers towards pop rock . Ann Powers , in a review for the Los Angeles Times , found the album borderline alternative rock and bubblegum pop with its songs experimenting with styles from "lush strings of Céline -style kitsch -pop to Americana banjo to countrypolitan electric guitar". Now described Speak Now as "slickly produced power pop ". Critics noted
13020-503: The album in 2019, contended that her country-music identity served as an indicator of her autobiographical songwriting rather than musical style. Some commentators reflected on Speak Now in the context of Swift's celebrity: they viewed the songs inspired by Swift's public experience—including high-profile, short-lived romantic relationships and the 2009 MTV Awards incident—as a precedent to her confessional narratives of subsequent albums, which received extensive media attention. According to
13175-502: The album is mostly about heartbreak and reflections on broken relationships, and some tracks were inspired by Swift's rising stardom in the public eye to confront her critics and adversaries. She and Nathan Chapman produced Speak Now , which combines country pop , pop rock , and power pop . Its songs incorporate prominent rock stylings, and their melodies are characterized by acoustic instruments intertwined with chiming electric guitars , dynamic drums, and orchestral strings . After
13330-431: The album kept Swift's "good-girl" image intact. Some tracks were inspired by Swift's public experience, including past relationships with high-profile celebrities, which received media attention during the album's promotional rollout. The confessional lyrics of Speak Now are more direct and confrontational than those on Swift's past albums. On " Back to December ", she asks an ex-lover to forgive her wrongdoings. Swift wrote
13485-404: The album on Pro Tools at Blackbird Studios; he had mixed some tracks on Fearless . Within three weeks, Niebank finished mixing 17 tracks including 14 on the standard edition and three bonus tracks on the deluxe edition. Because Swift wanted Speak Now to be a direct communication with her audience, Niebank infused monoaural reverberation inspired by 1950s and 1960s music in the mix to evoke
13640-528: The album opened atop the Billboard 200 with 1.28 million copies sold. Its singles " Shake It Off ", " Blank Space ", and " Bad Blood " reached number one in Australia, Canada, and the US, with the first two making Swift the first woman to replace herself at the Hot 100 top spot . Other singles include " Style ", " Wildest Dreams ", " Out of the Woods ", and " New Romantics ". The 1989 World Tour (2015)
13795-422: The album was tarnished by "slickly produced power pop and a sugary sameness [that is] indiscernible from any number of today's radio-oriented artists". Ann Powers appreciated Speak Now 's soft, introspective tracks for personalizing pop music. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times lauded the experimentation with genres such as blues and pop punk, and he called Speak Now a bold step for Swift. Speak Now
13950-564: The album's release, Swift embarked on the Speak Now World Tour from February 2011 to March 2012. The album was supported by six singles , including the US Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles " Mine " and " Back to December ", and the US Hot Country Songs number ones " Sparks Fly " and " Ours ". Speak Now peaked atop the charts and received multi-platinum certifications in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. In
14105-538: The authors William Shakespeare , Nathaniel Hawthorne , F. Scott Fitzgerald , and the poets William Wordsworth , Robert Frost , and Emily Dickinson ; the last of whom was a distant cousin of Swift. In The New Yorker in 2011, Swift said she identifies as a songwriter first: "I write songs, and my voice is just a way to get those lyrics across". Her personal experiences were a common inspiration for her early songs, which helped her navigate life. Her "diaristic" technique began with identifying an emotion, followed by
14260-557: The autobiographical documentary Miss Americana (2020), explored indie folk styles in the 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore , and subdued pop genres on Midnights (2022) and The Tortured Poets Department (2024). She began re-recording her Big Machine albums as Taylor's Version since 2021, due to an ownership dispute with the label . Through the 2020s, she garnered the US number one songs " Cardigan ", " Willow ", " All Too Well ", " Anti-Hero ", " Cruel Summer ", " Is It Over Now? ", and " Fortnight ". Her sixth concert tour,
14415-450: The banjo-led bluegrass track "Mean" as the album's pure country song. Much of the album consists of uptempo country pop melodies, exemplified by the opening track "Mine". Many tracks explore rock stylings that draw from rock music of the late 1970s through the 1980s, and their melodies incorporate chiming guitars, loud drums, and powerful choruses. "Sparks Fly" has an arena rock production with guitars and subtle fiddles. The title track
14570-593: The best, broadest, and most emotional sense". The album's dramatic themes of heartbreak and vengeance received mixed reviews. Spin and Now said although it included some memorable tracks, Speak Now was blemished by celebrity, rage, and grievances. Slant Magazine lauded Swift's melodic songwriting for offering radio-friendly pop hooks but criticized the lyrics of "Dear John", "Mean", "Innocent", and "Better than Revenge" as shallow and shortsighted. According to Steven Hyden from The A.V. Club , those tracks were Speak Now 's strength: "Swift's niftiest trick
14725-405: The board are used, from Top 40 Mainstream (which plays a wide variety of music that is generally the most popular songs of the time) to more genre-specific radio stations such as urban radio and country music. Paid plays of a song or treatment as bumper music do not count as an impression. During the early years of the chart, only airplay data from top 40 radio stations were compiled to generate
14880-503: The chart. In 2009, Swift toured as an opening act for Keith Urban and embarked on her first headlining tour, the Fearless Tour . "You Belong with Me" won Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards . Her acceptance speech was interrupted by the rapper Kanye West , an incident that became the subject of controversy and widespread media coverage. That year, Swift won five American Music Awards, including Artist of
15035-409: The chart. Effective from issue dated July 17, 1993, adult contemporary stations were added to the panel, followed by modern rock few months later. However, beginning in December 1998, the chart profile expanded to include airplay data from radio stations of other formats such as R&B, rock and country. To preserve the notion of the former chart, the Top 40 Tracks chart (now defunct) was introduced at
15190-849: The clarity and tone of Swift's live vocals accentuate her lyrics. Swift's fascination with songwriting began in her childhood. She credited her mother with igniting confidence and early songwriting interests by helping her prepare for class presentations. She enjoyed Disney film soundtracks and would make up lyrics once she had run out of words singing them. Her lyrical influences include female country songwriters such as Patsy Cline , Loretta Lynn , Tammy Wynette , and Dolly Parton ; 1990s songwriters such as Melissa Etheridge , Sarah McLachlan , and Alanis Morissette ; Joni Mitchell ; and Fall Out Boy . She listed Paul McCartney , Bruce Springsteen , Emmylou Harris , and Kris Kristofferson as career role models, citing their both evolving and consistent songwriting outputs. Her literary influences include
15345-421: The confrontational tracks as shallow. At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012, Speak Now was nominated for Best Country Album , and its third single " Mean " won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance . The album appeared in 2010s decade-end lists by Billboard and Spin , and Rolling Stone ranked it in their 2012 list "50 Best Female Albums of All Time". After a 2019 dispute regarding
15500-515: The country music scene, her father transferred to Merrill Lynch's Nashville office when she was 14 years old, and the family relocated to Hendersonville, Tennessee . Swift attended Hendersonville High School before transferring to Aaron Academy after two years, which better accommodated her touring schedule through homeschooling. She graduated one year early. In Nashville, Swift worked with experienced Music Row songwriters such as Troy Verges , Brett Beavers , Brett James , Mac McAnally , and
15655-434: The demos, Swift and Chapman approached other engineers and musicians to tweak some elements, including overdubs and programmed drums. The first track Chapman produced with Swift on Speak Now is "Mine", which they recorded within five hours. Because of his artistic autonomy, Chapman said he was responsible for "60 percent of the music on the album, including 90 percent of the guitars". Much of his production for Speak Now
15810-425: The end. The tracks "Innocent" and "Last Kiss" incorporate sparse instruments; the latter is a slow-tempo waltz with breathy vocals. "If This Was a Movie", a bonus song on the deluxe edition and the only song not written solely by Swift, is a fast-paced ballad with a recurring guitar riff and simple harmonies. Swift announced Speak Now on July 20, 2010, in a live stream on Ustream . Big Machine Records released
15965-430: The fastest-selling digital album by a female artist. Speak Now was supported by six singles: " Mine ", " Back to December ", " Mean ", " The Story of Us ", " Sparks Fly ", and " Ours ". "Mine" peaked at number three and was the highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, the first three singles reached the top 10 in Canada, and the last two reached number one on Hot Country Songs. Swift promoted Speak Now with
16120-578: The fifth and sixth consecutive years. At the 2014 Country Music Association Awards , Swift was honored with the Pinnacle Award, making her the second recipient in history after Garth Brooks . The Red Tour ran from March 2013 to June 2014 and became the highest-grossing country tour upon completion. Swift continued writing songs for films and featuring on other artists' releases. On the soundtrack album to The Hunger Games (2012), Swift wrote and recorded "Eyes Open" and " Safe & Sound ";
16275-497: The first artist to debut a US number-one album and a number-one song in the same week; she achieved the feat again with Evermore and "Willow". According to Billboard , Swift was the highest-paid musician in the US and highest-paid solo musician worldwide of 2020. Folklore made Swift the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year three times, winning the category at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards (2021). At
16430-563: The first artist to monopolize the top 14 of the Billboard Hot 100 and the top 10 of Australia's ARIA Singles Chart ; and went on to spend 15 weeks atop the Billboard 200—Swift's longest-running number-one album on the chart. The lead single, " Fortnight ," featuring Post Malone , became Swift's 12th number one song on the Hot 100. After the pandemic, Swift's music releases, touring, and related activities culminated in an unprecedented height of popularity. From 2023 onward, Swift found ubiquitous success, albeit more dominant than before, with
16585-430: The first two singles peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and the lattermost single became a resurgent success in 2023, reaching number one. Lover was 2019's best selling album in the US and best selling album by a solo artist worldwide. The album and its singles earned three nominations at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020. At the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards , Swift won three awards including Video of
16740-524: The fourth-best country album of the 2010s. Speak Now received industry awards and nominations. In the United States, it was nominated for Album of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards , the American Country Awards , and in 2011 the Country Music Association Awards . At the 2011 Billboard Music Awards , Speak Now was nominated for Top Billboard 200 Album and won Top Country Album . It won Favorite Album (Country) at
16895-432: The gender studies professor Adriane Brown, the songs about idealized romance and her innocent, "good-girl" image made her stand out in a contemporary pool of sexualized female pop artists. Brown commented that Swift's unwillingness to openly discuss sex and tendency to criticize females who "whore themselves out", as in the lyrics of "Better than Revenge", was problematic. In Vulture , Maura Johnston remarked that although
17050-482: The highest single-week tally for a female country artist and became the first album since Lil Wayne 's Tha Carter III (2008) to sell over one million copies in its first week of release. Media publications including Billboard , MTV , and The New York Times published articles highlighting Speak Now 's strong sales in the context of declining record sales brought about by the emergence of music download platforms. According to The New York Times , although
17205-498: The highest-grossing North American concert tour in history and grossed $ 345.7 million worldwide. In November 2018, Swift signed a new deal with Universal Music Group , which promoted her subsequent albums under Republic Records ' imprint. The contract included a provision for Swift to maintain ownership of her masters . In addition, in the event that Universal sold any part of its stake in Spotify, it agreed to distribute
17360-425: The impact of her fame and musically incorporated electropop with urban styles of hip hop and R&B . Released in November 2017, Reputation opened atop the Billboard 200 with 1.21 million US sales and topped the charts in the UK, Australia, and Canada. The album's lead single, " Look What You Made Me Do ", was Swift's first UK number-one single and topped charts in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and
17515-527: The indie styles a mature representation of Swift's artistry as a singer-songwriter. Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department both incorporate a minimalist , subdued synth-pop sound, making use of analog synthesizers , sustained bass notes , and simple drum machine patterns. With continuous musical reinventions, Swift was described by Time and the BBC as a musical "chameleon". Jody Rosen commented that by originating her career in Nashville, Swift made
17670-439: The infatuation would be reciprocated. " Haunted " is about romantic obsession and "Last Kiss" explores the lingering feelings after a breakup. On " Long Live ", Swift expresses gratitude to her fans and bandmates. The lyrics of "Enchanted" and "Long Live" incorporate high-school-prom and fairy-tale imagery that recalls the youthful optimism of Fearless . Besides love and romance, Swift wrote about self-perception. " Never Grow Up "
17825-487: The latter of which was co-written with the Civil Wars and T-Bone Burnett . "Safe & Sound" won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media . She wrote and produced " Sweeter than Fiction " with Jack Antonoff for the soundtrack to One Chance (2013). Swift featured on B.o.B 's " Both of Us " (2012) and provided vocals for Tim McGraw's " Highway Don't Care " (2013), also featuring Keith Urban. She
17980-456: The lead single "Mine" to US country radio and digital download sites on August 4, 2010. The single peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It reached number six in Japan, number seven in Canada, and number nine in Australia. On August 18, Swift released the album's cover art, which depicts Swift with curly hair and red lipstick twirling in
18135-446: The mainstream market. At the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards , where Swift won Best Female Video for "You Belong with Me", the rapper Kanye West interrupted her acceptance speech; the incident received widespread media coverage and became known as " Kanyegate ". At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, Swift sang "You Belong with Me" and " Rhiannon " with Stevie Nicks ; some critics commented Swift performed with weak vocals. MTV News commented
18290-468: The masters, but Big Machine would only allow her to do so if she exchanged one new album for each older one under a new contract, which she refused to sign. In November 2020, Swift began re-recording her back catalog, which enabled her to own the new masters and the licensing of her songs for commercial use , substituting for the Big Machine-owned masters. In February 2020, Swift signed
18445-487: The messages of her songs with her audience —a style that has been described as conversational. According to Powers, Swift's defining vocal feature was her attention to detail to convey an exact feeling—"the line that slides down like a contented sigh or up like a raised eyebrow". On Red and 1989 , Swift's vocals are electronically processed to accompany the pop production. Her voice on Reputation and Midnights incorporates hip-hop and R&B influences that result in
18600-488: The most incredible hooks." Swift became the youngest artist signed by Sony/ATV Tree Music Publishing , but left then BMG-owned RCA Records (later bought by Sony Music ) at the age of 14 due to the label's lack of care and them "cut[ting] other people's stuff". She was also concerned that development deals can shelve artists and recalled: "I genuinely felt that I was running out of time. I wanted to capture these years of my life on an album while they still represented what I
18755-428: The music industry in 2010 saw album sales "[plunging] by more than 50 percent in the last decade", the album proved Swift "has transcended the limitations of genre and become a pop megastar". The Guinness World Records in 2010 recognized Speak Now as the fastest-selling album in the United States by a female country artist. In Speak Now 's first charting week, 11 of the standard edition's 14 tracks charted on
18910-529: The official airplay-component of the Hot 100 on November 30, 1991. Each week, the Radio Songs chart ranks the top 100 songs by most airplay points (frequently referred to as audience impressions, which is a calculation of the number of times a song is played and the audience size of the station playing the tune). A song can pick up an airplay point every time it is selected to be played on specific radio stations that Billboard monitors. Radio stations across
19065-470: The ownership of Swift's back catalog, she re-recorded Speak Now and released it as Speak Now (Taylor's Version) on July 7, 2023. Taylor Swift released her second studio album Fearless through Nashville -based Big Machine Records in November ;2008. The album spent 11 weeks at number one on the US Billboard 200 , the longest chart run for a female country music artist. It
19220-419: The perspective of the moment yet has the skill of a songwriter beyond her years". American Songwriter approved of Swift's self-penned material and artistic control. In his consumer guide, Robert Christgau commented that although the album was too long and the romantic themes did not interest him, the songs were fascinating because of an "effort that bears a remarkable resemblance to care—that is, to caring in
19375-404: The platform, which prompted Apple Inc. to announce that it would pay artists during the free trial period. Swift then agreed to keep 1989 and her catalog on Apple Music. Big Machine Records returned Swift's catalog to Spotify among other free streaming platforms in June 2017. Swift was named Billboard ' s Woman of the Year in 2014, becoming the first artist to win the award twice. At
19530-534: The positive reception, The New Yorker stated she was generally portrayed "more as a skilled technician than as a Dylanesque visionary". Tabloid media often speculated and linked the subjects of her songs with her ex-lovers, a practice reviewers and Swift herself criticized as sexist. Aside from clues in album liner notes , Swift avoided talking about the subjects of her songs. Radio Songs (chart) The Radio Songs chart (previously named Hot 100 Airplay until 2014 and Top 40 Radio Monitor until 1991)
19685-585: The re-recorded version of Speak Now — Speak Now (Taylor's Version) , and its release date on July 7. Speak Now (Taylor's Version) consists of re-recordings of all fourteen songs from the standard edition, the deluxe tracks "Ours" and "Superman", and six previously unreleased "From the Vault" songs. After Speak Now (Taylor's Version) was released, the original album reached new peaks in Switzerland (number one), Austria (number one), Germany (number two), and it
19840-427: The response from the people to whom she dedicated the songs, she did not publicly name them and believed they would realize this themselves. She did reveal that Kanye West, who interrupted Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, was the subject of " Innocent ". In the track, Swift sings about forgiving a man who wronged her; according to Esquire , the track can be interpreted as "a simple lament of
19995-505: The same time. Per Billboard (as of October 2011): "1,214 stations, encompassing pop, adult, rock, country, R&B/hip-hop, Christian, gospel, dance, jazz and Latin formats, are electronically monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by Nielsen Broadcast Data System. This data is used to compile the Billboard Hot 100." The radio airplay data was previously collected on a Wednesday to Tuesday weekly cycle prior to July 2015, and on
20150-484: The second artist after Dolly Parton to have both the original and re-recorded versions of a song reach number one on Hot Country Songs. Red (Taylor's Version) was supported by " All Too Well (10 Minute Version) ", which became the longest song in history to top the Hot 100. Swift's tenth studio album, Midnights , was released in October 2022. The album incorporates a restrained electropop and synth-pop sound with elements of hip hop, R&B, and electronica . In
20305-631: The song amicably over the phone. The controversy made Swift a subject of an online " cancel " movement. In late 2016, after briefly dating Tom Hiddleston , Swift began a six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn and retreated herself from the public spotlight. In August 2017, Swift successfully countersued David Mueller, a former radio jockey for KYGO-FM , who sued her for damages from loss of employment. Four years earlier, she informed Mueller's bosses that he had sexually assaulted her by groping her at an event. The public controversies influenced Swift's sixth studio album, Reputation , which explored
20460-402: The songs about Swift's public experience were missteps, they hinted at her 2017 album Reputation , which explores Swift's public image and confrontation against her critics. In November 2020, after a dispute over the ownership of the masters to her back catalog, Swift began re-recording her first six studio albums. On May 5, 2023, at the first Eras Tour show in Nashville, Swift announced
20615-519: The soundtrack to Fifty Shades Darker (2017) and won a Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year with " Better Man ", which she wrote for the band Little Big Town . In April 2016, Kanye West released the single " Famous ", in which he references Swift in the line, "I made that bitch famous." Swift criticized West and said she never consented to the lyric, but West claimed that he had received her approval and his then-wife Kim Kardashian released video clips of Swift and West discussing
20770-654: The successes of the re-recordings, the Eras Tour, its concert film, Midnights, and The Tortured Poets Department , significantly increasing her net worth; Music Business Worldwide remarked this as a "new stratosphere of global career success" for Swift. In 2023, she began dating the American football player Travis Kelce , and in 2024, won Artist of the Year at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards . The same year, AI-generated fake pornographic images portraying Swift were posted to Twitter and spread to other social media platforms, spurring criticism and demands for legal reform. In July, Swift and Kelce received death threats from
20925-493: The top five on charts worldwide. Other singles from Red were " Begin Again ", " 22 ", " Everything Has Changed ", " The Last Time ", and " Red ". Red and its single "Begin Again" received three nominations at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards (2014). Swift received American Music Awards for Best Female Country Artist in 2012 , Artist of the Year in 2013 , and the Nashville Songwriters Association's Songwriter/Artist Award for
21080-612: The tour sold 625,000 tickets. By April 2011, Swift had added another 16 shows to the North American leg. After the final US concert in New York City on November 22, 2011, the Speak Now World Tour had covered 80 sold-out North American shows. On August 10, 2011, Swift released a music video for "Sparks Fly" that includes footage from the tour. She released the album Speak Now World Tour – Live on November 21, 2011. In December 2011, Swift announced an extension of
21235-474: The tour to Australia and New Zealand starting in March 2012. Concluding on March 18, 2012, the Speak Now World Tour had covered 110 shows, visited 18 countries, and grossed $ 123.7 million. Before Speak Now 's release, Big Machine shipped two million copies of the album to stores in the United States. In the week ending November 13, 2010, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 1,047,000 copies. It marked
21390-430: The tour's cultural and economic impact , and its US leg broke the record for the most tickets sold in a day . Ticketmaster received public and political criticisms for mishandling the tour's ticket sales. The Eras Tour became the highest-grossing tour in history . Its concert film , released to theaters worldwide on October 13, 2023, grossed over $ 250 million to become the highest-grossing concert film and
21545-432: The track list because it represents her then-new perspective of romance. Swift had written " Sparks Fly "—a song about dangerous hints of love at first sight—before she released her 2006 self-titled debut album. She re-recorded the song for Speak Now after she received fan request to release it at the 2010 CMA Music Festival . " Enchanted " describes the aftermath of an encounter with a special person without knowing whether
21700-536: The track list by June 2010. Swift recorded much of Speak Now with Chapman at his Pain in the Art Studio in Nashville. Although Fearless 's commercial success allowed Swift to engage a larger group of producers, she worked solely with Chapman because she believed they had a productive relationship. The recording process started with a demo ; Swift recorded vocals and played guitar, and Chapman sang background vocals and played other instruments. After arranging
21855-564: The youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a Hot Country Songs number-one single, and "Teardrops on My Guitar" was Swift's breakthrough single on mainstream radio and charts. Swift released two EPs, The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection in October 2007 and Beautiful Eyes in July 2008. She promoted her debut album extensively as the opening act for other country musicians' tours in 2006 and 2007, including those by George Strait , Brad Paisley , and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Swift won multiple accolades for Taylor Swift . She
22010-520: Was a stockbroker for Merrill Lynch , and her mother, Andrea Gardner Swift ( née Finlay ), worked as a mutual fund marketing executive. Swift's younger brother, Austin , is an actor. Their maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay ( née Moehlenkamp ), was an opera singer, whose singing in church became one of Swift's earliest memories of music that shaped her career. Swift is of Scottish, English, and German descent, with distant Italian and Irish ancestry. Swift spent her early years on
22165-637: Was a chart success in the wider English-speaking world: it peaked atop the albums charts of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, and peaked at number six in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The album was certified triple-platinum in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Upon conclusion of the Asian leg of the Speak Now World Tour by February 2011, the album sold 400,000 copies in the region and received platinum sales certifications in Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, and
22320-699: Was a voice actress in The Lorax (2012), made a cameo in the sitcom New Girl (2013), and had a supporting role in the dystopian film The Giver (2014). From 2010 to 2013, Swift was romantically involved with the actor Jake Gyllenhaal , the political heir Conor Kennedy , and the singer Harry Styles . In March 2014, Swift began living in New York City, which she credited as a creative influence on her fifth studio album, 1989 . She described 1989 as her first "official pop album" and produced it with Jack Antonoff, Max Martin, Shellback, Imogen Heap , Ryan Tedder , and Ali Payami . Released in October 2014,
22475-524: Was certified gold in the latter two countries. All tracks are written by Taylor Swift , with additional writers noted where applicable. All tracks are produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman. Notes Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. Musicians Production Sales figures based on certification alone. Shipments figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989)
22630-696: Was going through." At an industry showcase at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe in 2005, Swift caught the attention of Scott Borchetta , a DreamWorks Records executive who was preparing to form an independent record label, Big Machine Records . She had first met Borchetta in 2004. She was one of Big Machine's first signings, and her father purchased a three-percent stake in the company for an estimated $ 120,000. She began working on her eponymous debut album with Nathan Chapman . Swift wrote or co-wrote all album tracks, and co-writers included Rose, Robert Ellis Orrall , Brian Maher, and Angelo Petraglia . Released in October 2006, Taylor Swift peaked at number five on
22785-546: Was her sixth album to sell one million copies in a single week in the US, claiming her career's largest album sales week. 1989 (Taylor's Version) 's single " Is It Over Now? " peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Swift featured on Big Red Machine 's " Renegade " and "Birch" (2021), Haim 's " Gasoline " (2021), Ed Sheeran 's " The Joker and the Queen " (2022), and the National 's " The Alcott " (2023). For
22940-471: Was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement. Swift's eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department , was released on April 19, 2024. Topping charts globally, the album broke a string of records: it marked the first album ever to amass 1 billion Spotify streams in a week; sold 2.6 million units in its first week in the US; made Swift
23095-590: Was one of the recipients of the Nashville Songwriters Association 's Songwriter/Artist of the Year in 2007, becoming the youngest person given the title. She also won the Country Music Association 's Horizon Award for Best New Artist, the Academy of Country Music Awards ' Top New Female Vocalist, and the American Music Awards ' Favorite Country Female Artist honor. She was also nominated for Best New Artist at
23250-419: Was ranked 13th on Rolling Stone ' s list of the best albums of 2010. The New York Times ' Jon Caramanica ranked the album number two (behind Rick Ross 's Teflon Don ) in his 2010 year-end list. The album appeared on lists of the best country albums of 2010; PopMatters ranked it fifth and The Boot ranked it second. In 2012, Speak Now appeared at number 45 on Rolling Stone 's list of
23405-462: Was released to other retailers on January 17, 2012. To bolster sales of the album, Swift had partnerships with Starbucks , Sony Electronics , Walmart , and Jakks Pacific . In October 2011, Swift partnered with Elizabeth Arden, Inc. to release her fragrance brand "Wonderstruck", whose name references the lyrics of "Enchanted". To further promote Speak Now , Swift appeared on magazine covers and conducted press interviews. She performed "Innocent" at
23560-586: Was the highest-grossing tour of the year with $ 250 million in total revenue. After publishing an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal stressing the importance of albums as a creative medium for artists, in November 2014, Swift removed her catalog from ad-supported, free music streaming platforms such as Spotify . In a June 2015 open letter, Swift criticized Apple Music for not offering royalties to artists during its free three-month trial period and threatened to withdraw her music from
23715-423: Was the best-selling album of 2009 in the United States and then-20-year-old Swift the youngest artist to have an annual best-seller since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking album sales in 1991. Two of the album's singles , " Love Story " and " You Belong with Me ", performed well on both country and pop radio and brought Swift to mainstream prominence. "Love Story" was the first country song to reach number one on
23870-526: Was the bestselling album of 2009 in the US. Its lead single, " Love Story ", was her first number one in Australia and the first country song to top Billboard 's Pop Songs chart, and its third single, " You Belong with Me ", was the first country song to top Billboard 's all-genre Radio Songs chart. Three other singles were released in 2008–2010: " White Horse ", " Fifteen ", and " Fearless ". All five singles were Hot Country Songs top 10 entries, with "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me" topping
24025-518: Was thwarted by Austrian police forces. Swift's early musical influences were 1990s female country musicians such as Shania Twain, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, and the Dixie Chicks, and Keith Urban's country crossover sounds incorporating rock, pop, and blues. She self-identified as a country musician and achieved prominence as a country pop singer with her first four studio albums, from Taylor Swift to Red . The albums feature country signifiers such as banjo, six-string banjo, mandolin , fiddle , and
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